Draft regulator



Dec. 4, 1928.

B. GOODMAN DRAFT REGULATOR Filed Feb. 13,

Patented Dec. 4, 1928.

UNITED, STATES BABNEY GOODMAN, or cnicAGo, rumors DRAFT REGUL TOR.

Application filed February 13, 1926. SerialiNo. 88,032,.

jects them to high and low pressures, thereby necessitating the use ofregulators which are adapted to function under extreme conditionswithout'impairing their sensitivity and reliability. V

Further, since it is usual practice for generating systems to produceloads of varying capacity, it is desirable that their regulators bereadily adj ustable-to effect economic regulation at the desiredpressure orpressure's.

One object of the present invention is to improve the construction andoperation of devices of the character mentioned.

Another object is to provide an inexpensive device which is effective torender autoinatic regulation overa wide operating range. Still anotherobjectfis, to provide simple means for varying the range 'of operationof regulators with ease'and accuracy. A further object is to provide aregulator which is sensitivetoheat changesethereby -insuring economicfuel consu'niption and elficient operation at any predetermined load.

A"'still furtherobjectis the provision of an automatic regulatorwhich'does not necessitate the-use of althermostat' or, othercomplicated and expensive expedient. I

Otherobjects and advantages will appear from the following descriptionof'an illustrative embodiment, of the present invention. In thedrawings: V Figure 1 is a perspective view of a steam boiler and aregulatortherefor."

Figure 2 is a view of theflue closure and its associated parts. V j

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a regulator embodyingfeaturesof the present invention.

A regulator illustrative ofthe present i'nvention is shown appliedto' anordinary steam boiler 10 having the usual'hinged, gravity operated draftdoor 11 which controls the adn'iissionof air to the fire box, and theusual hinged draft closure 12 which controls the intake of air totheflue 13 through which the waste fluegases escape to the atmosphere,

Steam pressure in the boiler 10 communi-;- cates with a steam cylinder14 which in this instance, is vertically disposed and-mounted so thatits lower or steam end is subjectedto the pressure in the valved steamline 15.. Secured to the cylinder 14 is a cylinder head 16 V which is inthreaded engagement therewith through the usual nipple 17 As shown, the

=cup shaped cylinder head 16=is threaded to the cylinder 14 in the usualmanner. A piston 18 is mounted for reciprocation in the cylinder 14- sothat the centrally disposed piston rod'19 secured thereto willimpartmovement to a lever 20,wl1ich contacts therewith and movesupwardly as aresult of a pressure change. Inorder to insure properpiston rec procation Wltl'iOLit1&111111111g01 causing unusual 'wear ofthecoacting parts, a cylinder head 21 having a central upstandingboss'22 provided with a bore 23' to; receive the piston rod 19 forms a longguide therefoinj- Thisis highly desirable, for the piston is thenincapable of tilting, thereby insuringsmooth piston reciprocation withinthe*cylinder 14 at all times. To enable the air confined in the cylinderabove the piston rod-19 to escape upon upward movementof thepiston, the

space above the piston thereby subjecting it to atmospheric pressure.

A bell cranl-r 20'is pivoted about the shaft which is mountedin a fork26-. The fork is rigidly'secured in fixed relation to thecylinder 14 byvirtue of a horizontally disposed plate 27 which is provided with a hole28' at one end thereof to fit over the boss 22. The boss is externallythreadedjat 29 to receive a lock nut 80 which firmly holds the plate 27againstfthe cylinder head'QL' Astandard 3,1 which is secured to the'fork 26 in any appropri ate manner "as by the cap screw 32 renders thelever 20 vertically adjustable, in that the lower portion of thestandard 31 is threaded at 33 toreceive a pair of spaced nuts Mand 35between which' the platefl27 is firmly fixed by virtureof the openingpro videdtherein. Obviously by manipulating he nuts34 and 35 theextension rod 31' 'may be raised or lowered within the limits of thethreaded portion 33. 1

The piston rod 19, as shown, is adapted to coact with the lever 20 toimpart movement thereto about the pivot pin or shaft 25. The

upper extremity of the rod 19 is provided r with a. bifurcated endconnection 36 which is adapted to receive the lever 20 betweensaidbifurcations. A roller 7 37 ,is rotatively mounted within and betweenthe bifurcations on a transverse pivot pin 38 so that as the roller 37contacts with the lever arm 20. to impart movement thereto, the roller37 will. be caused to rotate, therebyeliminating friction resulting froma sliding contact. It

r ula'tethe alternateadmission ofair to either is to be noted that thelever 20 will be caused torotate about its shaft 25 in a clockwisedirectionupon upwardmovement of the piston rod 19; however, a downwardmovement of the rod 19 will not affect the movement of the lever 20thereby necessitating the use of means tonormally keep the lever arm in--its lowest position. The method employed .inthe presentembodimentconsists of gravity operated means to be hereinafter described,

a It is one purpose of this invention to regthe fire box or the chimneyflue. "lherefore it is possible to directly connect the draft door whichcontrols admission to the fire box,

and the flue closure in such a wayas to effect their simultaneousopening andclosing or vice versa as may be necessary to regulate thepressure of the system withinpredetermined limits. The means employed inthe present instance to effect such simultaneous movement of the flueand fire box draft doors, comprise flexible tension transmitting means,in this instance a chain 39 which connects the r 1 fire box draft door11 and the parts assodraft door 12 is connected to thelev'er by ciatedwith the lever 20, Likewise the flue similar means suchas the chain 40.and 41 which are interconnected by virtue of an inverted T-shaped lever42 which is pivoted to a fixed vertical standard 43 preferably at thejointure of its arms 44, 45. and 46. As shown the standard 43 issituated near and fixed to the frame of the draft door 12 so that thechain40 may be conveniently connected to an arm 44 of the lever in theusual manner, and the horizontally extended chain 41 connected to thearm 45. It will be noted that any oscillation imparted to the lever 2O.by virtue of a pressure change within the cylinder 14 will cause thelever 20 to move in the clockwise direction, thereby closing the fireboxdoor 11 and opening the chin'iney flue draft door 12; p A counter-weight47 .is

adjustably secured to the remaining arm 46 the lever 42 to offset orbalance a part of v the weightofthe draft door 12 which in this instanceis of such weight as to effect a constant pull on thelever 2Osufiicient'to cause it to contact at all timeswith theroller 37. \Vith adownward movement of the piston'18 automatic regulation over; a wideoperating j range, means are provided to effect the operation of theregulator over variable predetcrmined limits thereby makingnecessary a 1convenient adjustment so that the heat gencrating system maybeautomatically regulated at any desired-load or pressure. liyso doingthe closures 11 and 12 may be made to open and close at any desiredboiler pressure or pressures by merely adjusting a simple calibratedmeans of any desired form. which will respondto critical predeterminedpressures.

The means for setting the critical pressure at which the air intakes areto open andclose to effect regulation, in this instance, comprises asuitably calibrated quadrant which limits theuoscillating range of thelever 20,

since by adjusting its lowermost counterclockwise position, thepiston'rod in its movement upward will impart movementto the lever 20only when the pressure in the system is suflicient to movethe endconnection 36, which is secured to the extremity of the piston rod 19.The specific means employed in thisinstance, comprises a quadrantlever49 having angularly related arms 49 a-nd49 connected by a curvedarm 49 pivoted on the pivot pin 25 at the juncture of the two arms '49and 49",

thereby permitting the. quadrant 49 and the lever 20 to moveoros'cillate about a common center. As shown, the free extremities ofthe arms 49 and 49 of the quadrant 49 areprovided with holes 50 andblwhich are designed to receive the extremities of the chains 39 and 41.It will be notedythat any movement .of the closure 11 will impart asimilar movement to the closure 12 by virtue of the'direct connectiontherebetween established by thech ains j 39, '40 and 41 which areconnected to each 1 other through suitable linkage prcviou sly described. u p In order to retain the lever 20 and the quadrant 49 infixed relation so that both will move in unison, a det-achableyieldableconnectionis provided between the lever 20 and the quadrant; Thisconnectioncomprises a pawl 52 mounted in an appropriate guide bracket53-securedto onearmof the lever 20 by any suitable means such as thefasteners 54..

A rod 55 secured to one extremity of the pawl 52 and extending axiallytherefrom projects through an upstanding guiding lug 56 which isprovided with a hole 57 in theface thereof to receivethe rod 55 which isadapted to reincrease in pressure.

ciprocate with the pawl 52. The other ex tremityof the pawl 52 isadapted to, engage appropriate grooves 58, 59, and 61 provided in theinternal peripheraledge of the arch shaped member 49 of the quadrant Asshown, these grooves are arranged at spaced intervals to correspond withpressures ranging from the maxin'ium to the minimum that may be requiredof the boiler at any time, It is to be noted that this calibration mayconstitute any'desirable indicia. that will enable the operator tocorrectly adjust the lever to engage any portion of the quadrant whichdenotes a pressure incident to that position. In the present showing,words denoting the severity of the weather are used as a guide inregulating the operation of the heating unit. To normally maintain thepawl 52 in engagement with one of the grooves along the quadrant, acoiled spring- 62.1nounted on the rod 55 is'interposed between the pawl52 and the guiding lug 56, thereby normally keeping the pawl 52 inengagement with any desired groove. To facilitate the withdrawal of thepawl 52 from its respective groove or notch so as to permit rotation ofthe lever 20 with respect to the quadrant 46, a suitable handle 63 issecured to the pawl 52 in any appropriate manner so that the latter maybe conveniently withdrawn against the resistance of the spring 62. 7

It willbe understood that when the pawl 52 engages the extreme notchdesignated as cold, the lever 20, assuming the d 'aft door 11 to be openand the maximum desired pressure having been reached, will be rotated ina clockwise direct-ion by a slight upward move ment of the piston rod 19resulting from an This clock-wise rotation of the lever and quadrant,instantly closes the draft door. 11 and simultaneously opens the fluedraft intake 12 with. the result that the [ire is checked as-would bedesirable under this condition.

From the above description it will be seen that a regulator has beenprovided which is simple, positive in act-ion, and readily adjust ableto any desired range within whichit is desired to regulate a boiler orother heat g crating system.

Various changes maybe made in the emhodiment of the invention hereinspecifically described without departing from or sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention as defined in the appendent claims.

I claim: r p

1. In combinationwith a furnace having adraft and a damper door, acylinder communicating with a variable pressure source, a piston mountedfor reciprocation there in, a piston rod thereon, said piston beingarranged to move in response to a pressure change, an adjustable,support adjacent said cylinder, a lever pivotally mounted on saidsupport and operatively associated with said said doors whereby apressure change will effect a different setting of said doors.

2. In a regulator the combination with a variable pressure-source, ofan. adjustably mounted pivot, a lever mounted on said pivot intermediatethe ends thereof, means responsive to' a pressure change for impartingmovement to said lever, a quadrant lever mounted on said pivot adjacentsaid first mentioned lever and capable of rotation relative to saidfirst mentioned lever, a flexible body connecting one end of saidquadrant .85 with the draft door of a furnace, a second flexible bodyconnecting the other end ofsaid quadrant with the damper door of afurnace, and yielding, means carried by the lever for detachablyconnecting it to said quadrant to cause them to move in unison through alimited operative rangea' 8. In a regulator adapted'to operate thedamper and draft doors of a furnace, a cylinder adapted to communicatewith a variable pressure source, a reciprocating piston in-said cylinderarrangedto move in response toa pressure change, a piston rod on saidpiston, a lever operatively associated with said piston rod, acalibrated quadrant lever having notches on its internal peripheralsurface mounted adjacent said lever and oscillatable about the same axisas said lever and relative thereto, means for connecting said calibratedquadrant with said doors, and a resiliently mounted'pawl on said leverfor selectively engaging said notches for regulating the criticalpressure at which the lever responds.

4. In a regulator the combination of a cylinder adapted to communicatewith a variable pressure source, a piston mounted for reciprocationtherein, said piston being arranged to move in response to a pressurechange, an end connection on said piston rod, an anti-frictionelementcarried by said end connection, a lever having one end thereofoperatively 1 associated with said anti-friction element, an adjust-ablymounted support for said lever, a calibrated element mounted on saidsupport adjacent said lever and adapted for rotation about the same axisas said leverand relative thereto, flexibleineans for connecting saidcalibrated elelnentwitli the draft and damper doors of a furnace, and

mean'sfor detachably and adjustablyconnecting the said lever to thesaidcalibrated element whereby the two may be moved in unison along apredetermined pathf 5. An adjusting device for pressure regulateddampers of steam boilers; consisting of a calibrated quadrant leverrevolubly mounted upon a pressure actuated lever of the boiler, saidquadrant being rotatable 5 I about the same axis as said lever andrelative dampers ofsaid furnace, and means for detachahly retaining saidquadrant in any predetermined position of revolution upon its axis. i

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature at 10 South La Salle Street,Chicago, Illinois. a

BARNEY GOODMAN.

